Egg incubation temperature does not influence adult heat tolerance in the lizard Anolis sagrei.

ABSTRACT: Extreme heat events are becoming more common as a result of anthropogenic global change. Developmental plasticity in physiological thermal limits could help mitigate the consequences of thermal extremes, but data on the effects of early temperature exposure on thermal limits later in life are rare, especially for vertebrate ectotherms. We conducted an experiment that to our knowledge is the first to isolate the effect of egg (i.e. embryonic) thermal conditions on adult heat tolerance in a reptile. Eggs of the lizard Anolis sagrei were incubated under one of three fluctuating thermal regimes that mimicked natural nest environments and differed in mean and maximum temperatures. After emergence, all hatchlings were raised under common garden conditions until reproductive maturity, at w

SUBMITTER: Gunderson AR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7013480 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature